Welcome! What exactly is Craftsman Collaborative?
A platform focused on learning, building, and sharing the mindset of craftsmanship across all trades — where curiosity, design, and hands-on experience come together to create work that will stand the test of time.
Let me share a few thoughts that guided the inspiration behind the brand:
Introduction to Craftsmanship – The What
Craftsmanship is creating something that will last, starting from design. It’s the narrative and rationale behind the build, with the intent to carry the knowledge and pursuit of the craft forward.
For myself, this really came to life in the garage.
Learning to work on cars laid the groundwork.
Starting into custom projects brought detail into the picture: It’s one thing to bolt in a replacement part, but when you start from scratch it’s a whole different way of thinking.
What strikes me about a craftsman is not a natural born talent, rather a curiosity. Looking at the way things are made, the quality, the intent.
It’s a matter of design.
How then do you showcase this?
You can talk on it all you want, but for me it comes down to the actual work.
Not only the output of the builder, but the thoughts going in. The lessons learned. The takeaways and things we’d do different moving forward.
This is where Craftsman Collaborative came to life – a medium to tell these stories, one project at a time.
Our Mission – The How
DIY with a higher level of detail & discussion.
Storytelling on how any given project came to life. Telling it how it is through tutorials, techniques, and conversation.
This isn’t limited to any one craft either, the mindset extends from woodworking to metalworking, printmaking to surfboard shaping.
The common thread? Craftsmanship.
The Maker’s Mark – The Who
As a collaborative, this focuses beyond any one individual to an appreciation for quality through all trades.
Looking back, craftsmanship entered my life in more ways than one. Lessons learned in the darkroom as a photographer. Witnessed as a teenager hanging around skateboard factories. Growing up seeing the work of off-road fabricators, custom van builders, and on.
My turning point came through one specific project, living this firsthand.
The long and drawn out task of building a custom fiberglass camper top.
After starting on a wild idea to retrofit a vintage Westfalia camper to a Jeep, the rough-fitted prototype wasn’t cutting it. I quickly went down the rabbit hole of learning fiberglass.
Some dozens of hours of research and watching vintage mold-making tutorials later. . . and I was still a rookie.
A few hundred hours in the garage, and things began to materialize. It all felt real when I put my name alongside that final fiberglass mold number.
The idea of the maker’s mark: branding this work as my own.
Our Way Forward – The Scope
This was just one part of the many projects behind Craftsman Collaborative, begging the question – what do things look like moving forward?
As the saying goes, “A craftsman’s work is never done”.
I don’t intend this as never finishing work at the cost of perfection, it’s meant to signify a certain timelessness. That’s where we come in.
As long as there’s projects and takeaways to be shared, my work continues.
This channel can be used today to share a custom camper build, the next day some tooling for the garage, one day a cabin and plot of land.
I didn’t create craftsmanship. This community isn’t new, it’s out there.
We’re here to carry it forward.
Looking to experts and old-timers wiser than us along the way.
My Message To You
You’ve read this far, something must have resonated.
I’ve learned a thing or two about the craftsman side, but the collaborative side is meaningless without the community around it. I want to personally welcome you to join in and carry the conversation forward.